Naruto Raised by a Wild Horse
by Chaosthief1
Summary: Ranma gets sent to Naruto world and ends up raising the blonde demon container
1. Chapter 1

Naruto Raised by a Wild Horse 

"Speach"  
'Thought'  
/Radio/  
I will refer to Ranma in male or female terms depending on his/her form at the time.

Ranma looked down at the crazy village he'd just escaped from minutes before. He or rather she at this point had never encountered such a place before even during the rather extensive traveling with Genma. He'd only stopped a runnaway cart that was about to crush a group of kids. So he stopped a cart carrying nearly a ton of raw metal with nearly no effort. They didn't have to get all crazy about it. Some form of gratitude would have been appreciated.

Of course, in order to stop the cart he'd had to dip into his ki reserve and that might have been the cause for distrust. With that many trained ninjas in a concentrated area his well of power might have been somewhat threatening. When the ninja found him he was stepping away from the kids who were getting teary eyed and, by all the laws of murphy, jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Looking at the shapes carved into the rock below her he could only contemplate where he might have been sent. It was obviously no place she'd ever been before so that left the continents of Africa, Europe, and South America. This wasn't Mt. Rushmore, because it looked nothing like the picture Miss Hinako showed them in Engish class.

Not to mention the common language was definitely Japanese. English would have been predominant no matter how many Japanese tourists visited the US. The device Ryoga had used on her must have been to blame in this case. Well, that, the monster of the week (Akane's Cooking), Xian Pu's amazon magic, and Mu Tsu's strange spell combined.

Considering the causes Ranma took out her normal ticket home.

'This shard of the Nanban mirror has taken me home from a lot of strange places.'

The nanban mirror was, originally, a hand mirror that would allow travel through time and space. Activated by a person's tear the shard was normally very effective in returning the shapshifting martial artist home from unexpected trips. Broken nearly a year ago Ranma had retained this coin sized shard for saftey's sake. If the little pervert happosai found it he could repair the mirror and use it for his own ends. As long as the mirror was not complete the ability to time travel was lost.

Traveling through space was apparently easier to do in pieces. But this time each attempt to return home with it just dropped him back on top of this carved mountain.

'I guess I'm stuck here now..' Her train of thought was distracted easily by the sound of movement to her left. Two life forces were heading her way. One was an older woman by the taste of her ki, and the other was child like... almost wild with traces of Makai energy.

Curious, Ranma moved to investigate. Not many would be leaving a village that was this worried about intruders. What he found was a woman in her late fifties leading a blonde boy up the mountain path. What got his attention was the fact that the boy had massive energy reserves for an untrained three year old. The woman was a concern though. Her aura showed a viciousness that belied her kindly outward appearance.

"Come now Naruto we must hurry if we are to get your present." The old woman sounded sweet but, seemed dangerous for a non-combatant.

"Yay, Jinai-san, what is it?" The boy seemed far too happy holding the woman's hand. As if he'd rarely had such contact.

Concentrating on the path ahead of the two Ranma made an unsettling discovery. A group of perhaps six males were sitting in anticipation of the pair moving up the mountain trail. Now considering this situation Ranma made a decision.

aaaaaaaaaa

Jinai had lost her son to the Kyuubi demon's attack over four years ago and now she was able to gain her revenge. Patience had gained her what others had failed to achieve. The opportunity to be rid of the demon without violating a single law.

All she had to do was get the monster to the top of the monument and the hired thugs from another part of fire country would take the boy away and dispose of it. She'd recieved help from several others in this endeavor, but didn't know who her associates were. Secret messages and periodic instructions moved her into a position to get close to the brat.

Working at the orphanage was tedious after already raising her son but it was necessary and provided her this wonderful opportunity. Moving into the clearing at the top of the mountain path she found a single individual with a masked face sitting patiently for her.

"I thought there'd be more of you?" She asked eying the figure before her. The short individual's form was shrouded in a large cloak and a pack sat nearby.

"For one boy?" Came the young voice. Either the thug was a girl or very young. Or a ninja in disguise.  
Best not to question.

"He's all your's. I've done my part." With that she pushed the boy in front of her and moved back down the trail quickly for an older woman.

Naruto looked at the covered figure confused.

aaaaaaaa

Ranma looked at the receding back of the woman with mild anger until she looked at the kid standing there confused. Sighing she picked up the pilfered pack and took the boy's hand.

"Come on kid. I don't know what the deal is, but I don't think it's safe around here for ya. Ya'd do better with me I think."

Lifting the boy into her arms she began walking away from the village.

"I wanna be a ninja." Spouted off the child happy to be carried by this nice girl.

"That's nice kid. Your name's Naruto right?" Ranma asked as she carried him away from the thugs tied up in the tree tops unconcious.

"Ya, U-zu-maki Naruto." Naruto said carefully to her, proud that he pronounce it right. No one had talked to him this much before.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked as they moved further away from the village.

"I don't know yet. Where do you want to go?" Ranma asked as she made her way through the forest.

'Where to go? I know...'

"I want to go where the sun sleeps." Naruto spoke up.

"What?"

"I hear the lady at the orphan-age say the sun sleeps at night. So I want to see it sleep." Naruto explained.

Ranma laughed at the explanation in her mind, but was also slightly pensive.

"How old are you kid?"

"I'll be five in four months." He showed her the number of months on his hand with his fingers.

This caught her off guard. That explained why he could speak so well. He was either a very malnourished five year old or very small framed boy. Having him in her arms allowed her to do a passive scan of his body only to find he was in fact malnourished. She also found the well of power buried deep with in his body was indeed makai. Demons weren't terribly common in Nerima, but on rare occasions he'd encountered one.

Normally, they congregated in different areas of Tokyo. They tended to avoid Nerima and Juuban due to the dangers associated with those areas. Although there was a new spirit detective in Tokyo with a team so Ranma felt little concern about them. Old Lady Genkai had the situation well in hand with the new guy so Ranma only got involved if the demons visited his section of the city.

"Well? Can we go?" Ranma was brought back to reality by Naruto's questioning voice.

"Sure kid. West it is." Looking at the sun's position she adjusted her course and they left the village hidden in the leaf behind for some years to come.

AN/ Should I continue this story now that I have started it? Maybe. Can't decide. Might be entertaining.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto Raised by a Wild Horse

"Speach"  
'Thought'  
I will refer to Ranma in male or female terms depending on his/her form at the time.

A week and a half later. Earth Country

Naruto was bored. Ever since his new mother had stopped their journey in this border town between earth and fire country to gather her bearings he'd been helping her learn about the area. Now they'd been here for two days and they were only a days travel from the border. He hadn't felt happier in his life when he'd been able to tell the border guard that Mama-Ranma had adopted him.

Mama-Ranma had looked weird when he'd told the rock ninja that, but she hadn't told the man different. Why else would Jinai-san have left him with Mama-Ranma? He'd been adopted at last. He never knew having a parent could be so great. His mama made sure he ate lots of food and went to bed at night. She didn't tell good stories, but the ones about the stupid pandas and training were funny.

That was something else. His mama had already begun his training. She had showed him how to medi-tate. She said it was better to do it under cold waterfalls, but they didn't find any on their journey yet. Of course, his mama had special techniques too. She could move really fast, freeze things, and best of all become Papa-Ranma.1

She had to have hot water to change into Papa, and while it took a few minutes it was realy cool. It was like the transformation jutsus he'd seen ninjas use, but not illusion. In order to train Naruto was to go to the grocier for the inn's cook and return as quickly as he could to build up his speed. It was taking longer than he'd thought for the store owner to gather the supplies though.

Here the market sellers didn't give him mean looks at all. This place was so different than Konoha, and less expensive as well. He could buy candy for ten ryo instead of the two hundred ryo charged in Konoha. Rock country must be a great place to live if food was so plentiful.

While Naruto was waiting for the inn's order to be filled he decided to practice his stealth on the big guy sleeping at a guard station. Several guard stations were place throughout the town to maintain the peace like a police force. This far from the hidden rock village though it was more of a punishment post. It would only be a little fun.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Ranma now understood why her father had set her to training so early in life. Little kids were a handful when they didn't have something to occupy them. Right about this age Genma had found the neko-ken training manual.

She would never think about doing such a thing of course, but she did have the kid doing some chores around the inn they were staying at for the next few days. It had been a week since they'd left the forest of Fire country and began traveling the more mountainous terain of Rock country. Apparently, the countries of this area were named after elements of nature.

Crossing only one checkpoint on the way into the country it was necessary to lay claim to Naruto as her own kid. Signing the paperwork entering the country was pretty binding to Ranma. She had basically promised to protect the kid as her own. Naruto had been so happy when he'd told the guard his name was now Saotome Naruto.

He believed she'd adopted him.

Which, in her own mind, she figured was better than kidnapping him. If he was being sold to those thugs by someone from the orphanage that village obviously not safe for him. He'd be a good student with all of his enthusiasm. He'd even accepted the curse as if it was something normal in his life. Of course, the curse was apparently weakened greatly for some reason. It took several minutes for the change to take effect compared to the near instant effects of before.

Just another strange thing to happen in her life at this point.

Suddenly, a loud clang of metal on metal took her attention from serving the tables in the dining room. The door slammed open and a blonde blur raced behind her legs. Following the blur was a bear of a man holding a very large hammer. Easily ninety pounds, the hammer was held in an easy grip even though the male holding it was apparently angry.

"Where did the brat go?!" He bellowed into the building sending the few lunch customers out a side exit or up the stairs. This would be very intimidating if his long beard wasn't braided with bright pink and yellow bows tied into it.

"I take it he was the artist that created that masterpiece." Ranma asked setting her tray on a nearby table and looking at his beard.

"Arg, of course, he ran from his rightful punishment. I, Akumo the Mighty, will deal with the runt." He hefted his hammer in his right hand in a menacing, although, dimwitted way.

"Right, ya got a bad situation there. See, I'm takin care of him as he's my kid and student. Can't have him getting injured to early into his trainin. Wouldn't be responsible of me." She stepped into Akumo's reach and took him by the beard.

"Now you." She yanked down on his braided beard. "Are gonna leave here peacefully or I'm gonna get upset."

After saying this the owner of the establishment rushed in with the town constable after having left with the rest of the customers in a hurry. The town constable was a ninja from the Hidden village of Rock and perhaps a year older than Ranma.

"Akumo! What are you doing? You aren't supposed to be chasing around children. It's against the terms of your parole after all." At this point the constable takes notice of the tiny redhead holding the much larger and likely stronger man by his long whiskers, and becomes more serious.

"Miss, if you'd let him go I shall be remove him from this establishment post haste." The Rock nin bowed respectfully to the, percieved, strong young woman.

Ranma released her hold on Akumo who was now flustered that his country man was seeing him humiliated.

"Restin, I wasn't gonna hurt them. Just teach the brat a lesson." Akumo complained to the now named Restin.

"You deserve the embarassment of wearing those ribbons if you allowed a child to do that to you. We shall have to work on your awareness in the future. It is ill befitting for an Rock ninja to be so careless." Said the younger but, obviously, superior ninja who's headband was wrapped around his upperarm. Akumo's own headband was tied to his belt.

At that point Naruto peeked out from behind his mother's, and sometimes father's, legs.

"You're a ninja?" He asked of the bearded man.

Forgetting for a moment the boy's actions Akumo nodded with a big toothy grin.

"You're not a very good ninja." Was Naruto's guileless responce.

"Why you!!" Akumo lifted his hammer only to have the head fall off the shaft. (Bad imagery I know ;)

Akumo looked at the red head buffing her fingernails on her silk shirt. Even Restin was reviewing his observations for when she'd made the attack. Finding no indication that she'd even moved aggressively Restin was intrigued.

"That was quite impressive. You are ninja trained? A missing nin perhaps?" Restin asked ignoring Akumo who was getting teary eyed at the loss of his weapon.

"Trained in ninja arts? No. I'm a martial artist although I have studied some basic ninja tactics and weapons." Ranma wasn't going to mention that she'd studied those same techniques while being attacked by ninjas. Learning skills through experiencing them was the Anything Goes style at it's core.

"Your attack just now wasn't ninjutsu?" Restin asked curiously. Akumo was now openly weeping over the remains of his favorite hammer.

"Not every thing is ninjutsu you know. Just because you call it a ninja technique doesn't make it one." Ranma said with a scowl. The information she'd gathered on the ninja's of this world showed that using chakra and flashy moves was the norm. In fact, most of her normal low power skills would be viewed as jutus or blood limits.

"My apologies. Most skills as such would be normal for a ninja. To find non-ninjas with such skills is rare. What is your purpose her in Rock country if I may ask?" Restin was pleasant enough in his questioning.

"We are on a training journey." Ranma said as she stood with a relaxed hand on Naruto's head.

"So the boy is your apprentice?" Restin asked intrigued.

"She adopted me and is gonna teach me to be the best ninja ever." Naruto informed the ninja.

Retsin looked at Naruto and smiled at the exuberance youth brought. Nodding his head he glance at Akumo who was trying to fit the two pieces of his hammer back together with super glue.

"I have a proposition for you." Restin told the newest residents of his small town.

aaaaaaaaaaaa

Konoha One month after Ranma's Arrival

The Sandaime was furious as he sat in his office with paperwork covering his desk. There standing before him was the Anbu captain Hatake Kakashi. A powerful ninja in his own way Kakashi had some bad habits. Such as being late to every appointment made with him, and not being as observant as he should be outside of battle.

"You mean to tell me that Naruto has been missing for four weeks and you are only now telling me?" The Hokage had spoken in a mild voice but his anger was apparent.

"Lord Hokage who ever planned the abduction was very cautious. They place a powerful genjutsu on the orphanage employee that reported on the boy's situation each week." Kakashi stated in his defense only realizing to late his mistake.

"Employee? I made it clear that I wanted the boy monitored closely by an Anbu member at all times. Why is it you use a civilian to monitor him?"

"Sir, it was felt that the resources could be better utilized..." The Hokage's raised hand quieted the Anbu Captain.

"I see..." Sighing the leader of Konoha became much more grim. "Hatake Kakashi, you are hearby relieved of all duties pertaining to the Anbu forces. You are to leave your mask with me and may not perform any missions for the next month while your actions for the past year are reviewed. Dismissed."

Hatake Kakashi, ninja prodigy, removed his mask and left his leader's office. Disappointed not in his loss of position, but in the fact that he had failed in, not his duties, something far more important. He'd failed his teacher and his leader in protecting one small boy.

aaaaaaaaaaa Someplace Hidden

A small group of individuals was meeting to discuss their plans

"The plan worked?" A hidden person asked. The voice was male, but that was all that was distinguishable.

"The demon container is no longer in Konoha, and the copy-nin has been relieved of his post for dereliction of duty." Came another voice.

"But the boy has not been found or dealt with? The thugs employed have all been silenced, but none knew of the boy's location." Voice number three.

"That is a concern, but our immediate goal has been accomplished. The Uchiha prodigy is most likely to be made Captain of the Anbu, and will become more powerful with time. He will be a powerful ally when the time comes." Said the first voice.

"I still believe this course of action is flawed and dangerous. The blood of his ancestor flows too strongly within him. He is dangerous to us." Third voice claimed.

"Perhaps, but the plans have started to move forward and cannot be stopped now. Our discussion of the situation is a waste of energy and time. We must press on and make preparations. Hopefully, Itachi will not discover the truth of his clan before the time is right." Second voice said halting a fight before it began.

Darkness deepened as the future changed course from what it was to what it could be.

TBC Well, I'm going to give this story a shot. It might be a while between updates but who knows when the muse will strike. Now to work on one of my other stories. Later. Oh and reviews are all welcome. Good? bad? Why? Let me know.

1. The chestnut technique allows ki to enhance the bodies speed to superhuman levels. The soul of ice chills the user and surroundings to different levels of cold. The jusenkyo curse could be seen as a transformation jutsu only not illusion based. And Ranma didn't use the neko-ken to cut the hammer it was a combination of speed and sharp cloth technique using a loose thread from the long sleave of her shirt.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto Raised by a Wild Horse 

"Speech"'Thought'

I will refer to Ranma in male or female terms depending on his/her form at the time.

Life was the same for Ranma Saotome where ever he or she went. Misunderstandings were commonplace.

Location Little inn in rock country.

"Who are YOU to PROPOSITION _ME_ **PERVERT**!!" A loud yell and crash came from inside the inn. None of the displaced patrons wished to investigate and left to find less... dangerous entertainment.

Inside the inn Ranma was staring at her hand in wonder.

'The divine hammer of 'Righteous' Wrath????' Thought Ranma as she looked at the hammer dissipating from her hand to the ninja, who was, in fact, laying unconscious two rooms away. It should be noted that in the land of Earth buildings were mostly constructed out of the ample stone in the area.

"Wow, and Cologne said I'd never figure out that technique." Ranma said clearly proud of herself.

Elsewhere in the multi-verse several meddling old individuals felt a very real sense of dread run up their proverbial spines.

Naruto stared at his mama distracted from braiding the hair on the back of the bad ninja's head, while said ninja was distracted from the setting glue on his hammer. Both had wide eyes for the scene. Naruto's were in awe, while Akumo seemed both intimidated and facinated with the disappearing hammer.

Standing up quickly from his kneeling position he raised his hammer into the air and let loose a war cry.

"I would date you!!" Cried the hammer happy ninja.

Elsewhere a delusional idiot felt a great deal of indignation for an unknown reason.

Unfortunately, or fortunately for some, Akumo's hammer hadn't quite been repaired.

'Thump!' And the poor fool was Knocked out by his own weapon falling apart.

Looking at the scened and the damages Ranma sighed. Considering the situation and the likely repercussions she made an important decision.

"Naruto?"

Said blonde looked at his mother curiously.

"We begin your practical training now. Get the packs from up stairs." Ranma began searching the unconcious forms of the ninjas on the ground.

Nodding like a bobble-head doll the kid race up to their room and brought his and his mother's packs to the bottom floor. After a bit of rummaging Ranma pulled out several lengths of rope and indicated he pay close attention.

"This is the best way to securely tie your captives. First you loop this around...

Thus began the training of Naruto in basic knots and handling of captives.

Shortly after securing the ninjas Naruto was being quizzed about what he'd learned.

"Now why is it important that they not be wearing any clothing?" Asked Ranma as she sorted the possessions of the ninja. She'd tossed the old man who owned the inn a bag of money taken off Restin to keep quiet. He was after all knocked out in all the ruckus.

"So they don't have any concealed weapons they can use to escape?" Naruto hesitantly answered.

"Correct. Now why would we need to tape their fingers together?" She question indicating the athletic tape she'd used to bind the ninjas hands uncomfortably together.

Naruto had a look of concentration on his little face as he considered it.

"So they can't use any ninja tricks?" He looked positively giddy when she indicated he was correct.

"Okay, last question before we pack up and leave." Ranma indicated the array of items on the floor. "Why are we taking these things from them."

Naruto looked at the items and quickly recited what his mama had explained to him.

"Ninjas use what things they have available to do what they need to do, leaving anything with them would provide enemy ninjas advantage over us, by taking their stuff they can't use it against us." Naruto explained in a very long breath.

"Exactly, you got it." Looking at the stirring forms of the two ninja they gathered the items up quickly and left through the inn's front door. Walking down the street with Naruto, now struggling with his new slightly damaged battle hammer, Ranma examined a card she'd gotten off of Restin.

'Ninja library card. Access card to Hidden Stone ninja archives. Expires, according to the current calender, next year.'

"This might come in handy." Ranma said they made their way out of town toward the area rumored to hide Hidden stone village.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa Two weeks later. Hidden Stone village.

Naruto was bored. His mama had told him to stay at the hotel and meditate, but he was so bored. Finally, he decided he'd try climb the wall like his mama had when she left through the window. Watching her run down the sheer wall that was the exterior building was so cool. It was just like those old guy ninjas when they walked up and down the trees back home. Of course old was roughly twelve or thirteen for our young friend, and likely recent graduates of the academy.

Closing his eyes and concentrating hard, on what he was still unsure but concentrating all the same, and forming a rather inaccurate ram seal Naruto made a mad dash at the wall. Of course, opening his eyes would have helped a lot. As it was he hit the wall and bounced off in a heavy daze before slumping down into the land of dreams.

Missing the arrival of his guardian and the confused expression on said guardian's face.

'Maybe he wanted to work on endurance training?' Ranma thought as he set his satchel on the table and moved little Naruto into a more comfortable position to examine.

'Hmmm, just a little bump on the head and it's already healing right up.' It was, in fact, healing at nearly his own rate of regeneration. Come to think of it, that was pretty telling for a kid Naruto's age.

Deciding to investigate Ranma charged his hand with ki and started mapping the boy's being. This was a much more concentrated and telling medical ability that Doc Tofu had demonstrated for him when she'd visited him in his new, clinic in the Minato ward of Tokyo. He'd been training under old master Genkai when Ranma'd showed up battered and bruised after the failed wedding.

She'd stayed with the doc for a week until the crew in Nerima had settled down somewhat. Considering her nature it wasn't a suprise to find that Genkai had learned of Ranma in one way or another. Genkai had given her a week to recuperate and a few scrolls to read and then kicked her out of her shrine.

That was pretty much due to the fact that all of her protective wards had to be redone after that incident with the dragon and a drunken Norn. It is better to forget any such incident involving Urd when they happened.

Back to the present. After examining the quickly recovering Naruto Ranma pondered what he now knew of the boy.

The severe malnutrition was being repaired at an incredible rate. While the boy's system was running at an incredibley efficient rate. It seemed that feeding the boy large and varied quantities of food was repairing much of the damage inflicted upon the child.

From the information gathered Naruto ate mostly Ramen from a very kind vendor in his old village. He'd go on and on about how wonderful it was, but would looked at the ground when Ranma had asked what else he liked to eat. That was pretty telling if the boy couldn't seem to remember eating anything else before leaving with Ranma.

The seal on the Naruto's stomach was rather... unsettling though. It was obvious something strong was sealed into the boy and typically such things were dangerous. The power was restrained but steadily leaching into the boys complicated energy pathways and assisting in the healing process.

That was another thing to consider. The complexity of this worlds energy pathways was mind boggling to his senses. his own ki pathways were incredibly simplified in comparison. It would take some time, but the concept of altering his pathways and adapting to mix ki and chi into a unified energy would be challenging at the very least.

She nearly salivated at the thought of new techniques she could learn. She could convert chi to ki and ki to chi, but had never considered combining the two before. Looking at the satchel she'd brought back with her she gather the nearly healed boy into her arms and prepared him for bed.

Alarms wouldn't likely be raised until Monday as the library wasn't open on the weekends in this village.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Hidden Leaf Village - outskirts

Two Anbu with masks were following a ninja and her very large dog. The Anbu were different as physically possible. One was wearing a weasel mask and was barely in his preteens while the other was a well endowed teenage woman wearing a hawk mask.

"This is taking forever. Why can't we go any fast than this?" Asked the older of the two while the younger was silent but impatient as well.

"It will take sometime to filter out the scents and determine what direction the kidnapper left in. As potent as the scent and chakra are it has been nearly a month since Uzumaki was here." This came from the dog as it sniffed the ground carefully.

"It doesn't help that it rained recently." Commented the Inuzuka ninja as they walked slowly behind the dog. "Is it true that Old Lady Jinai is under suspicion?"

The question was straight forward, but the Anbu weren't suprised to hear that. News traveled fast among ninja. Unless it was classified but most of the civilians were aware that, "that boy", was taken from the village. Quiet celebration was found in scattered parts of the village, but most just passed it off as good riddance and went on with their lives.

"Ibiki is likely to find the truth of the matter. If she is to be questioned we have no need to be concerned about it. Our mission is to locate and return the child to the Hokage." Weasel boy stated to the slightly animal like female ninja.

"Yeah, yeah, just trying to make conversation Itachi. You weren't this sulky when you two weren't Anbu." The Inuzuka complained as they moved still further out of the village.

Sighing the two Anbu decide that the formalities weren't worth the hassle. Removing their masks the two sighed in annoyance.

"Miku and I had no intention of joining the Anbu you know. Parents are such a pain." Itachi complained as he stashed away his mask.

"Hah! You only have to deal with parents. I have to deal with the entire council of Hyuuga elders. May they all turn to dust before I see them next." Said the older and now revealed Hyuuga branch member.

"My clan isn't a picnic either. It's genius this, do better in that. Train, train, train. They had the gall to try and ban me from my pocky when I failed to complete a mission in half the time that was necessary. Not to mention I have to deal with the clan services next year. Some kind of rite of passage ceremony and all that rot." Itachi shuddered at having to deal with all his relatives gushing about him becoming a man.

"Yeah, well your cousin Shisui isn't so bad."

"Oh, come on Marin. You only say that because he seems to have fallen head over heals for you. And you still won't give him the time of day." Came Miku's fast retort.

Marin blushed at the statement and was saved by Chichen's sudden stop. The dog, had gotten a whiff of incredibly potent life force. Not chakra but pure Ki. It couldn't imagine the kind of being that had so much vitality to still be detectable after a months time. Even the nine-tails chakra had disipated quickly over a few months time those many years ago.

"We might have a problem..." With that lead in Chichen began explaining what she'd found.

TBC Sorry for the long delay in posting, but this was the first bout of inspiration i've had in a while and i'm tired now. must sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto Raised by a Wild Horse 

"Speach"  
'Thought'  
//Kyubbi//

I will refer to Ranma in male or female terms depending on his/her form at the time.

"Mama, look who followed me home!" Naruto yelled as he walked up to his mother meditating on the front lawn of the house they were renting in wave country. The island was nice an quiet place that wasn't too crowded, but had many welcome amenities.

Without opening her eyes to her sons loud voice she picked up a nearby scroll and made some notes. Once she finished writing she looked at what her son had brought back with him. At nearly seven years old it would be seen as normal for a child to ocassionally surprise their parents by bringing a stray home. Sometimes its a dog or cat. Sometimes reptiles or amphibians. None of these were present on this occasion.

"So, where did you find a rabbit the size of a polar bear?" This was Naruto Saotome, and I ask who is surprised by this?

Scratching the back of his blond, spiky haired, head the boy laughed nervously. Meanwhile said rabbit started munching on the leaves of a nearby tree.

"There was this really neat old ninja in town. He showed me some neat scrolls and sold me the suprise box of jutsu scrolls for only sixteen hundred Ryu.And I followed the instructions on the scroll and here he is." Pointing at the large animal munching on the lower branches

"Myownpersonalsummoningcontract." Naruto explained in a rush of breath displaying an old worn scroll for approval.

"We are being tracked by three fairly competent ninja who seem to want to take you away from me and your training and you call up the most eye catching thing you could?" The red haired teacher asked of the young boy.

"But it's soooo cool." Naruto whined even as the tree the rabbit was eating began to fall from the weight of the rabbit climbing to reach more leafy food.

Sighing Ranma gesture Naruto over to her and with a stern look bent him over her folded knees. Pulling up the back of the shirt she examined the seal she'd placed there a year ago. It was an ink seal of the Kimen martial arts calligraphy. A body binding strength builder. Having tracked down the idiot that gave Ryoga a free powerup she'd learned some training techniques. Pulling a inkbrush out of stuff-space she added a mark to the seal.

"I have added one point of restistance to your training. You are also responsible for caring for your new...pet." At this point the tree finished its decent to the ground making a large amount of noise.

"I can keep him?" Naruto asked as he leaped into the air with glee. Albeit with more effort than in the past.

Sighing Ranma smiled at the happy blond boy. That is until a sudden shower caught them both and left a blond girl and her mother in the yard with the massive Rabbit.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Flash back. Six months ago.

An old barker was telling the crowded festival of the fantastic blade that would grant one wish to any who could pull it from the anvil it was stuck in. This was seen by most as a scam. Because the sword wasn't very impressive and had only been a fixture there since the village was founded. Which was only about twenty years prior at that. However, for Naruto who'd been given some pocket change to enjoy the festival this was exciting.

The old man who'd been calling to the crowd had his attention drawn to his feet by small hands yanking on his shirt. Finding a boy who couldn't be more than six offering him money to try the sword pull brought a smile to his face. Charging only half price the white haired man pulled a chair over to allow the boy to make his attempt.

Scrunching his face in concentration the young Saotome pulled as hard as he could.

Following this action the blade flew out of the stone with a flash of red light and the before any could comment, including Ranma, Naruto made his wish.

"I wish I could do all the great things my mama can do."

..."Wish granted."... Intoned the mystical sword before rusting away to iron dust.

//What the #$!!// came a roar that none could hear from the prison deep within the boy while the commotion around the boy increased. The boy wasn't supposed to make his wish before the demon had the chance too. About to begin thrashing about behind it's bars it stopped when a new sound came from the other side of the bars.

Gearing up to intimidate the interloper to his private domain he came to find something very strange. There cleaning itself was a large cat. In the shadow of the cat was a small pink haired female human stretched out on a very comfortable couch watching a big screen television.

//Who dares intrude upon MY vessel!!// Bellowed the great many tailed beast.

Looking up from it's grooming the cat looked at the big fox indifferently before continuing its efforts. The female, however, just yawned and turned the television volume up. Trying to determine what was so interesting brought the fox to realize the television showed the outside world. The view was obviously from his vessels point of view. Finally, the beast now had some entertainment. Being stuck with nothing to do, but nap for five years would cause even the greatest of beings to crave stimuli. Sure the fox could expand its awareness outside of the boy, but it took so much energy it saved that for instants were it could feel 'useful' things in the nearby area.

The sword was the first it had discovered in some time. Save for a feeling it got when it entered the leaf monkey's leader's office.

No longer caring about it's new roommates the fox concentrated on the picture of the outside world and settled down to watch the opportunities it could exploit occur.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Current day.

"I'm telling you we're going around in circles again." Itachi complai... stated.. to his companions as they made their way through Rain country." They had indeed be following the incredibly meandering route produced by the chaotic prey they stalked.

"You know this is the only way we'll be able to keep track of them though so live with it." Marin said as they continued stealthily through the trees. Following the scent of their quarry was easier to do then having either the sharingan or byakuugan track the life force left behind. The energy simply lingered to strongly where ever it went. They were perhaps a week away from the target, but each time they raced to catch up they'd simply lose track of the physical trail and have to back track.

"Are you two still set on finding the kid? This has got to be a record for a hunter mission. We haven't even been back to fire country since this began." In truth they'd also seen more of the elemental countries of Wind, waterfall, and Earth than they'd care to. Being blamed for the theft in Rock hadn't endeared them to the local shinobi.

"It doesn't make any sense though. We keep getting turned around and loosing the trail only to find it again with my Byakuugan. Then we find their scents again. It has to be more than them crossing all those rivers to hide their scents." Miku grumbled as she tossed several paralyzing senbon needles at a hidden group of ninjas. As if it was as simple as swatting a fly out of the way they moved on past the patrol and happily were moving out of the rain forest like country.

"I think it would be wise to return to Konoha and speak with the Hokage about our situation in more detail than we've been able to relay through our usual channels." Meaning he was tired of happening to find their quarry's trail at every last bath house they visited to send information back to Konoha via the Toad Sannin's information network. That an his supplies of sweet things were low.

"Oh, come on Itachi do you really want to deal with the clan when you get back?" Miku asked as they walked across the river they'd come to. He'd been resisting returning home for the last year when he began receiving summons from his father. Apparently, he'd missed his rite of passage within the clan and would be reprimanded severely when he returned.

"Your joking right? I've grown more in the past two and a half years than my family back home could realize. The freedom to train at my own pace on this mission has been a blessing. This was a vacation I needed you don't know how badly." It was true he'd become much more relaxed since he'd been working with his team again.

"What about you Miku? Ready to return to dealing with you 'precious' elders?" Itachi teased his older companion while watching Marin struggle with carrying her large dog across the water with her. Chichen was the only dog he'd heard about that couldn't swim.

It was not a secret how she felt about her forced position in the branch family. She'd been allowed on this mission only because the council believed it to be a short mission. If they weren't informed of their situation every three weeks at scheduled checkins the old fools would have activated her caged bird seal. That was one of the reasons branch members rarely left Konoha on long missions. The Hyuuga council was extremely paranoid when it came to possible missing-nins from their clan. Hiashi's wife had been the only voice of reason in the main family by Miku's own opinion.

As one they began heading toward the fire country's border and they each had their own thoughts on the matter.

'I hope Shisui hasn't forgotten about me.'

'I hope little Hinata is alright.'

'I cant wait to get some more pocky and chocolate.'

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Panting a pair of Saotomes could only smile at each other as their current training/mission was completed. They'd been hired to relay messages, to and from, twenty-seven different villages in Stone, Rain, snow, and lightning countries. While at the same time carrying several large loads of materials in hidden weapons space. It had taken some careful training to get Naruto to an acceptable level in the skill while not neglecting any of his other skills too greatly.

Having gained some inherent grace and agility, while not the fear, of the neko-ken. He'd also gained the phenomenal learning curve, as well as, the curse his mother possessed. He still needed work though. The brat learned a great deal faster,but was still as bright and determined as he had been. Of course they'd finished their trip in Lightning country and as with any area that had even the chance of rain the curse decided to activate.

It was at this point that the main road decided to come to life as well as a large procession made its way through the storm. Moving to the side of the road was the wise thing to do as several ninja were traveling with the many carts and carriages. In the lead was a very gaudy thing being pulled by six large black horses. Gilded with gold and silver and almost certainly less than pleasant to haul as the horses seemed very put out pulling it through the various mountain passes. Three ninjas were perched on top of the carriage and the symbol of the Hidden cloud village was easy to see.

What was also easy to see was a very young girl chained to the back strut of the monstrous conveyance. Her eyes were shut and it was likely she was unconcious. Now both were very tired from their recent work out, but being who they were they couldn't let what they saw as an injustice go unresolved.

Therefore, six large rabbits and some special techniques saw them running for their lives from an entire entourage intended to protect the Raikage. This of course included one Yugito Nii. Resident demon jailer of Hidden Cloud.

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto Raised by a Wild Horse

"Speach"  
'Thought'  
//Kyubbi//

I do plan to continue all of my stories. Some simply take longer to update than others. That is the path of the author and is filled with blocks and delays.

On with the story.

It was a beautiful day in Konoha. The village hidden in the leaves, however, was not currently peaceful or able to notice such beauty. Ninja were rushing around with quiet resolve and an air of foreboding. The peace accord with the Cloud village had been successfully agreed upon. It wasn't until the Raikage and his entourage had left that one Hinata Hyuuga was found to be missing.

Not only had she been secreted away from the restricted and heavily guarded compound, which should have been nearly imposible, how it was done revealed that spies had to reside in Konoha.

Hiashi gazed at his daughter's room and with force of will remained calm. He'd been training with her just the other day. Working her hard and attempting to train her in the family style. It had likely been a simple slip on his brothers part. Hinata's training while under outside stress wasn't to begin for several more weeks, and Hizashi had simply stepped above his station.

"She shouldn't have seen the punishment. I should have dealt with it at a later time." He stated calmly looking at the room that reminded him that she was her mother's daughter in so many ways. Flowers and bright colors filled the room. The decorations had been the work of his wife.

"You shouldn't blame yourself, Hiashi. We all have lapses in control and lack patience at times." Hiashi was still bound to his twin in fundamental ways that were not limited by their life roles. Twin bonds are complicated and difficult to control when strong emotions are involved. Guilt was easily felt between the brothers. Hiashi looked to his brother with baleful eyes.

"We have a traitor among us, Hizashi. Who ever planned the abduction knew far to much about our compound and our 'limitations'.

Such limitations were the fact that sealed into strategic walls in the compound were lead sheets. One of the very few materials that limited the vision of the Byakugen and protected the Hyuugas personal spaces. This was left unsaid between the two.

"There is only one unaccounted for shinobi from the branch family. She has been deployed for sometime now in search of the Uzumaki child. All of my people are accounted for and not one of them would allow harm to come to Hinata-hime. (1)

At this Hiashi's mouth twitched into what passed for a sad smile among his clan. His dearly departed wife had called Hinata that often, and apparently it had remained with her even after her mother had passed on. Walking to the open garden a short distance away they met with an approaching ninja.

"Has the Hokage learned of any new information, Shisui?" Hiashi asked of the young shinobi who'd just appeared in a swirl of leaves.

The shinobi's face was impassive as it looked upon the clan head.

"I fear little is known at this point. The entire Inuzuka clan has been mobilized to locate your daughter. If any are capable of locating her trail it would be their hounds." Bowing respectfully Shisui, master of the body flicker, technique vanished again in a swirl of leaves.

At the uppermost level of a nearby building Shisui gazed upon the Hyuuga compound with a malevolent smirk. His quarry was now out in the open and his hunt was to begin. Sharingan blazing in his eyes he made his way to the outer edges of Konoha with a light jacket he'd taken from the child's room.

aaaaaaaaaaa

Outer edge of Konoha

"I'm telling you it's this way. My nose doesn't lie. The scent leads this way and they managed to cover their tracks all to well." Irichiru said as he muzzeled through the folliage. He'd managed to find traces of the girl outside of the normal village areas.

"You can't identify her captor?" Kana Inuzuka was wary of anyone able to mask their own scent so well.

"If the kid has been captured I can't find a trace of them in the trail. It's more like she simply wandered away from the village and got lost." The old hound was a very capable tracker and partner. The older woman that was his partner was spry and swift as she followed him.

They'd gotten separated from their search squad when a younger ninja had been injured. It was simply a sprain, but Kana was as capable on her own as with a group. She'd seen enough in life to know that the girl needed to be found quickly before the trail had gone cold.

Both woman and dog came to a stop as they entered a small clearing in the woods. There in the center of the clearing lay a small form shivering in a light jacket.

"Hinata Hyuuga, are you alright child? Your father has been worried sick. Come now it's time to go home." Reaching down to touch the girl's shoulder she was unprepared for the attack.

One quick strike imbedded the kunai through the woman's throat to sever the spine. Irichiru barely managed a yelp as he was dragged underground and had his neck snapped. Moments later the clearing was as pristine as if it had never been used for an ambush.

The oldest living member of the Inuzuka clan was missing in action. Only one clue was found near the scene. That was a damaged head band with the markings of the hidden Cloud.

aaaaaaaaaaa Two days later.

The Hokage of the Hidden leaf was seriously concerned. As to the current state of affairs the village had been at a heightened state of security for the last week with the Hidden cloud envoy having been in the village. There should have been no possible way for the current situation to have occurred. Save for sabotage within his own village.

"Lord Hokage. You summoned me?" Came a quiet respectful voice.

A ninja more loyal to the Sandaime you'd not be able to find. Even with his eccentricities, the boy had helped the Hokage a great deal. Gesturing a hand at his desk covered with paper work the young ANBU sighed and formed a quick seal. A moment later a dozen shadow clones appeared to begin sorting through the messy desk.

"Walk with me Itachi?" Leaving the office with the younger man he began to discuss the current crisis with his potential successor.

To be continued

AN:  
(1)Hime is as far as i can tell 'princess' so princess hinata

Some may question my sharing ranma's curse with Naruto, but my reasons are my own. I hope to use the current situation to explain several things in the next chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto Raised by a Wild Horse

"Speech"  
'Thought'  
/Kyubbi/  
(mandarin)

The Tendo Dojo was a hive of activity as various beings converged to locate the local chaos nexus. Well not only was he local, but he, or she as the case may be, was one of three left residing on the earth. Such a disappearance from all manner of detection would send up alarms.

Tied in separate corners of the room were the causes of Ranma Saotome's disappearance, and in the center were those who had the likely knowledge to locate and return the youth.

"I'm telling you I didn't do anything! Let me go!" Akane was being very vocal about her innocence despite the massive disaster in the kitchen and at least seven different incredibly potent mystical ingredients found. This situation leaned more toward a powerful, if completely random, potion made by the girl.

"And I told you that you had in your possession powerful ingredients that react in a chaotic mess when combined together. You had two ingredients that under normal conditions would have leveled half of Tokyo. They react that badly to each other. That much power had to have an equally powerful effect." Urd of the Norns scolded the girl as an professed expert on magical potions.

Her platinum locks were disguised so she looked like a normal Japanese woman with a magical background. No need to let on that a goddess was involved in the first place. Her presence was official in this little mess as to determining what had caused a minor crash in the Yggdrasil system that seemed to be centered around the younger Saotome.

"Miss Odinsdotter is correct, but you are not the only one at fault Miss Tendo. Mu Tsu tampered with my herbs and I was unable to stop him from using one of the mid-level forbidden spells I hold in keeping for my tribe." She left out that the 'medicinal herb' he slipped her now had a permanent place in her cabinet. "However, the spell would not prevent son-in-law from returning to us."

'Especially, using that useful shard of the Nan-Ban mirror of his.' Thought both Urd and Ku Lon to themselves.

"We know the spell banishes traitors and enemies to the 'end of the world'. In more modern times that would be to the continent of Antarctica. If he was there he would have returned when I used this retrieval spell." Cologne gestured to one of the first attempts to retrieve the child.

An old scroll lay on the table unrolled to show ancient chinese script. The spell worked it simply had nothing to retrieve. Even a body would have been brought had there been one.

"I have put out the word for information regarding Saotome-san, but it will take some time due to the delicate handling required." Saying this Urd glared at the panda playing with a tire in the back yard.

"Any word on what the Hibiki boy used on young Ranma?" Amazingly Soun Tendo had not burst out into tears since earlier activating his old friends curse.

"Well I," Urd was cut off by a bell ringing from her pocket. Her cell phone was quickly answered. A few words were exchanged and the phone was put away once more. Only Nabiki noticed the unusual name that was the brand on the back. Skuld Lmtd.

"That was an informant." All eyes were trained on her.  
"Apparently, Mr. Hibiki was given a method to move his 'greatest curse' to his 'greatest foe'. That being his uncontrolled directional curse." All eyes turned to the sheepish looking martial artist chained, courtesy of Urd, in the corner. He'd been testing the strength of his bindings only to find that an adamantium chain had no breaking point.

"And what of you great grand-daughter? What sorcery were you attempting without my permission?" Ku Lon asked of the purple haired amazon that sat straight with what little pride she had tied in a corner.

(I only did what I thought necessary great-grandmother. My husband has been far to stubborn, and the artifact would bring his hidden love to the surface.) The shattered crystal used was in a silk pouch to shield those present from lingering magic.

(Who gave such an item to you Xian Pu?) the Elder's voice was cold. She was, apparently, using the soul of ice technique to prevent lashing out at the foolish child.

(Elder Lu Xian felt it was necessary measure and sent it with me before we returned here from China.)

Cologne carefully search the girl for any deception and found none. "I fear that my great-granddaughter has been deceived, and that someone has orchestrated our current situation."

"But Great grandmother.." She was cut off by Ku Lon's angry glare.

"You child are a disgrace." The words were spoken with a sharp, cold anger. "You accepted a magical artifact from a dead woman! Lu Xian died two months before our dealings with Saffron. I can't believe you have been so blinded by your obsession with the boy."

Xian Pu listened in shocked silence to her Elder's litany continued in Mandarin.

(You have been acting the fool and I'll not have it any longer. You are no longer my heir from this moment hence. You will return to the village to be retrained the moment we have determined that he can be retrieved or is lost to us.)

The girl showed signs of objecting which were silence with a jab to the neck with the elder's staff. The pressure point would resrict her ability to speak for an hour or so.

Collecting herself Cologne turned her attention back to the group and seemed to deflate slightly. Rubbing the bridge of her nose she restated what was currently known.

"Young Ranma has been struck by magics involving a banishing spell, curse transfer spell, and a spell involving bringing hidden interests to the surface if the description is to be believed. Tendo's creation was simply a powerful collection of energy also caught in the magical backlash with unknown effect at present. Deduction leads us to believe someone wished to remove Ranma from the area and was unable to do so directly for what ever reasons. Hence several plots all apparently occuring at the same time." Nabiki asked the question others were thinking.

"But how could all of these apparently random plots happen all at once? The situation is far to well meshed to be instigated by... well any one of Saotome's current rivals." Thinking about the chaos around the boy she revised her opinion. "Nevermind, this is Ranma, chaos magnet to the nth degree. Of course, this kind of thing would happen to him."

aaaaaaaaa Ygdrassil-Tree main Processing

Skuld was searching through hundreds of files and commands in the search for very ellusive information. It was almost as if the file on Ranma Saotome was moving itself from server to server among the divine network. Digging itself deeper into the already complex and bug ridden realities. It was like finding a needle in a haystack.

'There aren't even any alternates for the guy?'

Normally, there are several branches and realities near each other in the multi-verse with 'alternates' to each individual. Mimir's well used by Toltir has, in the past, changed a particular Ranma Saotome by altering points along his timeline. This particular grouping of reality, however, lack a living alternate for nearly a thousand consecutive branches in sequence.

"This can't be good." Doing a quick search for causes of death showed some disturbing facts. Seven different Ranma's had apparently been attempting to become an 'ultimate' power by killing their counterparts. It was simply dumb luck that they'd met each other in this reality. When the Ranma's had mutually destroyed each other, the local Ranma had taken the accumulated power.

"He's in the system... He's in the system! HE'S IN THE SYSTEM!!"

The search for the 'mortal' Ranma Saotome had located nothing. Finding the newest class Ten Limited License: Deity of Martial Arts and Chaos was easy to do.

Calling Urd she quickly relayed the news she'd just found and missing the fine print about the new god/goddess having a half demon son/daughter/apprentice.

Getting to him/her would be difficult due to the dimension being sealed from interference by 'higher' beings not already apart of the divine ranks of that world. Somehow, Ranma had been declared a goddess and the rest was set into place.

aaaaaaaa

Hunting through the elemental countries a burly man declared his quest to the heavens for the sixth time that morning to his companion's disgust.

"Worry not my Fiery Hammer Goddess! For I shall find you and allow you to bask in my presence!" Akumo shouted to the heavens as lightning struck and thunder crashed. The fact that he'd held his new steel hammer to the sky and been electrocuted by said lightning must be pointed out. Somewhere, a Kuno had the urge to learn about copyright law.

Picking up the large man, Restin grumbled about idiots and red haired thieves. How the red-head in question managed to steal the entire shinobi library in one night without using chakra, and by extension storage seals, baffled the mind.

Tracking them out of Rock had been the easy part. Working out that they'd both come from Fire country had led to their accomplices. An Uchiha, a Hyuuga, and an Inuzuka. Sure they'd been discovered a bit later, but they'd made good scape goats. Easier to say some elite 'known' ninjas than some 'nobody' had made fools of the Stone Village.

Itachi Uchiha had been given an S-class ranking because they'd pegged him as the genius mastermind behind the theft. This information was delegated to the more skilled ninja. While the lesser only knew that Uchiha Itachi was apparently a ninja not to mess with lightly.

aaaaaaaa

Konoha

Itachi was finishing up dispersing his shadow clones for the day while enjoying one of his favorite pass times.

"MMMmmmhhhh Pocky..." 'Strawberry Cream my favorite.' Uchiha Itachi a currently S-class ninja was relaxing and sorting through all of the day's paperwork in his mind. Mentally sorting through all of the day to day junk and requisition forms he learned of some very disturbing information.

In a general sense the memory download from kage-bunshin could easily be dangerous. Careful meditation can sort through the many memories, and prevent overload. In some cases the separate thoughts can find connections unseen from the views of separate people.

Connections, and coincidences became all to clear in that instance. His clan had persons in nearly every position of import within the village. From supply, to mission assignments, an Uchiha was involved. Or had some position involved. His own recent promotion to Anbu Captain had even been expected from this information.

'Which means Hatake-san's lapse in judgement was expected or even instigated.' Thinking quickly about this disturbing information he quickly moved to speak with the Hokage.

Only to be stopped at the front door of the house by several members of the clan with his father in the lead.

"We have wasted enough time as it is Itachi. You will join us tonight and be initiated to you responsibilities of the clan. Walk with us my son." Gesturing toward the outer edge of the district toward the easter wall. He had no choice, but move toward the temple residing on the only hill in the Uchiha district.

"And what responsibilities will I now have that I did not before? I have served Konoha and the clan well, have I not?" He stoically asked of his father.

"All will be made clear my son. This is a rite of passage we have all been participants to, as we have come of age. You are older than most who have been initiated, but not the eldest in our clan history." This was all rather foreboding to Itachi, but he calmly began planning contingencies and carefully made some seals in the guise of adjusting his uniform sleaves. None had thought to activate their doujutsu for this event less walk to the temple.

As they moved further down the road a shadow clone phased out of the ground, and moved quickly to the hokage tower in the distance. The Hokage needed to be aware of the potential power-play being set into motion by his own clan.

To be continued...

I am working on my stories. I'm simply taking longer to get them worked out. It's harder than it looks. And if you hadn't figured it out I've recently watched "The One" with Jet Li. Very good movie.


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto Raised by a Wild Horse

"Speech"  
'Thought'  
/Kyuubi/

Yugito Nii was one of the foremost stealth and tracking ninjas among the ranks of the Hidden cloud village. Instinctively silent, her footsteps made no tracks or sounds in the mountain terrain. Her current two masters were not nearly so stealthy. Proved by the displaced stones and irritable mutterings. Her leash bearers were of the lower level of their power group. Power didn't mean much when she was bound to them by seals.

A stab of pain in her side brought her attention sharply back to her task. The taller of the two masked anonymous ninja had a sparkle of amusement in his eye and his hand clenched in a seal.

"Pay attention, Beast! We must find the prize quickly." Releasing the seal the pain in her side disappeared.

Sniffing the air and examining the area provided enough for her to locate their prey.

"Twenty meters to the west. They've stopped at a cliff and.." scenting the air deeply she continued to report. "There is fresh blood from the girl in the air."

"Quickly then while they have stopped we can corner them." The shorter ninja claimed rushing toward the cliffs. Yugito followed their lead hiding her resentment of her current keepers.

Meanwhile at the caravan escorting the Raikage.

An elderly man in green robes of moderate quality addressed the Raikage as he tended the man's minor wounds.

"My Lord, the samples are still secured. There is no need to chase after the girl now." After smearing some cream on a laceration, from a Summoned creatures claw, he found himself being lifted by the neck into the air.

Slowly the Raikage began to speak.

"We have been humiliated. I had a rabbit the size of a mountain bear summoned upon my head. I want my prize and those who would dare to so blatantly attack me, in my own country no less, to suffer greatly for what they've done." Seeing the foremost medical ninja of the village turning blue he released the man.

Falling to the ground and gasping for air the old man knelt in apology to his lord. An apology that the Raikage ignored in preference of seeking his comfortable if slightly damaged carriage.

Giving an evil look toward the leader of his village he moved to his own cart near the back of the caravan. Carefully opening a triple reinforced and sealed chest he viewed their true prize. One jar held about a liter of Hyuuga blood. The other held, floating in a chakra infused solution, two properly preserved Hyuuga eyes. Smiling the man congratulated his own foresight. The council would be displeased with the Raikage for losing the girl, but he'd be rewarded.

After all they could have bred the girl without her eyes easily. The Raikage had intended to do that himself once the girl had reached a suitable age. He'd simply felt that a blind concubine would be easier to control. The man's position was largely due to his political abilities not his ninja skills.

Content the medic sat comfortable while those around him rushed to repair the carts and wagons that were damaged in the ambush.

Back with the two Saotome girls they were finding their little princess was in some bad shape.

"Uggh, that is disgusting..." Naruto said as he looked at the now bandage less girl.

"It's bad, but..." Moving her hands imbued with green chakra over the voids that once held eyes.

"Naruto, want to help your Princess again?" Looking at the boy who nodded hesitantly she gestured for him to sit in front of her.

"We have a few moments before our pursuers arrive. Do you recall the time you went swimming and that shark got at you?" Not the most pleasant of times in wave country, but once they'd caught the shark they had a great meal.

"That hurt a lot. But my hand grew back real quick." Naruto looked at his left hand that was slightly less tan than the rest of his skin. It had indeed only taken a few moments for the missing appendage to grow back in a flash of red makai energy. Excruciatingly painful yes, but also very short time wise.

"Okay, I need you to pull up some of your makai. Let it flow into your system carefully." As Naruto pulled the energy from his seal Ranma carefully, with speed capable of throwing hundreds of punches in an instant, plucked Naruto's now tinted red eyes from his head. Placing them in the girls head in one smooth motion.

Keeping her left hand full of healing energy, and on the girls new head she turned to watch her son's eyes almost instantly reform with energy and finally flesh.

"Wow, didn't feel a thing." Blue eyes were once again his.

Suddenly three ninjas appeared blocking the entrance to the cliff's edge.

"Okay, now the fun begins."

Within the seal.

Since Naruko ,as she called herself, had arrived the area within the Kyuubi's seal had gone through some renovations. Gone was the creepy looking sewer system. Instead it was a series of springs with irrigation ways leading to one main pool. This pool was a swirling mix of energies. Currently turned red from the combination of one of the springs, and a irrigation channel from a deep ditch in front of the Kyuubi's cell door.

The couch and big screen television had been replaced by a recliner for Ranko, a day bed for the large cat, and a screen reminiscent of a movie theatre. The sound system was pretty good too.

Off to the side was a wall of shelves with dvds and a electronic entertainment system. Some titles were obvious as Naruto's first Party to exotic training attempts/with blooper reels. Of course, the Kyuubi was as vile as ever.

"I still say we should watch the one with the bath house and those chicks that thought he was so adorable when he got lost in the woman's side." Rolling her eyes Naruko typed away at her laptop connection with Jusenkyou's operating system.

Okay maybe the powerful being was just a pervert. That seems to be the trend.

To be continued.

Thought I'd get back to the two main characters for a bit. Thanks go out to Azereath for catching my 'oops' at the end. That's next chapter. -Looks sheepish.-


	8. Chapter 8

Raised by a Wild Horse Chapter 8

"Speech"  
'Thought'  
/Kyuubi/

All thanks go to Pax-Draconix as my beta reader. Without him I'm sure there would be many more mistakes.

Chapter 8 Part A

On a cliff in

"Naruto?" Ranma was looking at her son with a curious expression.

"Yeah Mom," Naruto was adjusting his white gi to his slightly taller male form.

"When did you change back into a boy?"

"Just now, I fight better as a boy." The boy in question said as he settled into a fighting position.

"Where did you get the hot water to change back?" At this Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Um, I just changed back. Why do I need hot water," Asked the confused blond.

"That's how the curse works. Cold water turns us into girls and hot water changes us back into boys." Ranma said getting a little frustrated.

"Oh… I just changed when ever you did. I didn't even think about it honest." At that point the Cloud ninjas arrived on the scene. Finding a red haired woman trying to strangle a blond boy wasn't expected.

The Hyuuga girl they spotted lying nearby clearly showed they'd found the proper targets.

"Hold it right there! You have property that belongs to the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Return the girl and come quietly or you will be killed!" The younger of the two demon handlers shouted.

"Idiot." The older of the two ninja faded from sight only to reappear imbedded with a crash in a nearby boulder. He'd attempted to use Shunshin, a short range high speed technique, to grab the girl. Ranma put her foot back on the ground and gazed contemptuously at the ninja.

"I know old women that are faster than that." Across the dimensional barrier both Khu Lon of the amazons and the Psychic Genkai both sneezed.

"I'll show you fast. Release attack barriers 1 through 4 until these two enemies are defeated." Forming four seals with his hands the ninja smirked. A flash of light forming odd symbols flared on Yugito Nii's face and neck. A roiling black abundance of demonic energy flashed into being briefly forming a roaring cat's head above the female shinobi.

Relaxing into a posture that screamed sensuality Yugito Nii reveled in the power loosed. Her only regretting was that the same power could not be used against her jailors. Turning to glare impotently at her controller she took some small pleasure as he cowered at her gaze.

"You may be safe now, but one day you will die." Her voice had become smoky and sultry. Ranma had shivers running up and down his spine, although it wasn't from the c-c-c feline thing that had formed above her head.

"Naruto… This one is all yours. Anything goes." Moving to the unconscious child she lifted the girl onto her back and faded into the Umisenken. Hidden from sight she took stock of the situation as it was unfolding.

"Okay, old lady, it's you and me now." Naruto said with a big smile. This pulled Yugito from her minor shock. Her surprise came from loosing all sight of both females of the group. None of her senses could accurately locate the child she was supposed to return to the Raikage. Controlling herself she considered the boy in front of her that she now knew was named Naruto.

"Old Lady? I'm only seventeen, brat." Her voice had lost its smoky quality and instead held a growling tone.

"Yeah, that's ten years older than me right." He took a moment to do the math on his fingers just to be certain. "Yup, that's really old."

With a massive roar the container of the two-tailed demon cat attacked with all of her ferocity and rage. Which wasn't quite enough to match wits with a practitioner of the Saotome Anything goes style. Naruto bounced and weaved around each and every blow as if the Cloud Ninja was striking at the very wind itself.

Leaping into the air Naruto unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt. Hidden from sight roughly ten or so meters away from the battle Ranma sighed at the bill she'd be paying for the loss of Kaiza's products.

"Hidden Weapons Technique: Barrage of the Tuna Fish!" This was yelled out and the air was filled with Tuna. Some of the fish reached 150 centimeters in length, or nearly five feet long. This left a veritable mountain of sea food covering the woman.

Meanwhile the handler of the demon container was getting frustrated at the complete lack of progress against the seven year old. Deciding that overkill was never a bad thing he shouted out his next command. In the back ground his older comrade was regaining consciousness.

"Demon! Final seal: Annihilation Release!" This outcry was responded to in kind by the older man making a desperate shout an instant to late. He'd had experience around the final form of the Jinchuuriki. The beast was wild in its pure chakra form and uncontrollable for several minutes.

Expecting a swift if very painful death by fire the more experienced man braced for death. Only after not being burnt to ash after several moments did he open his eyes. There calmly munching on the large pile of Tuna was the Nibi. The demon, for all of its power, ate like a contented house cat. Looking around the ninja could find no sign of the thieves.

Neither would have happy lives following the mission debriefing with the Raikage.

* * *

At the same time in Konoha.

"I am glad you came to me Itachi." The Hokage smiled at the shadow clone of the Uchiha prodigy. "This is important I will agree. However, I am fully aware of the situation. In fact, I have been assisting your clan for some time now."

"What? But sir, I don't understand." Shadow clones were truly quite remarkable in their abilities after this conversation the true Itachi would possess all the knowledge of the conversation even across the village.

"I have an infestation here in the village. The Root of the village has developed a bit of disease. Should that disease be allowed to fester it will pull down the great tree that is our home. I am hoping that your clan can help me to burn away the damage. If you look carefully you will find that many other positions have been filled quite nicely by other clans that have a more, shall we say, equal standing in our society. I have no wish for any one clan or association to have too much power." Sarutobi lit his pipe and inhaled deeply.

"The paperwork made it seem like an attempt to rest power to my clan. Why make such changes look so… suspicious?" It was a reasonable question to ask, but not an easy one to answer.

"That is simple and yet complex at the same time. Some one is attempting to manipulate the Hokage office while it is unsuspected that I too am manipulating my unseen opposition. I have my suspicions yet no proof." Both stood silently for a time contemplating the situation.

"Should I dispel now sir?" asked the clone of his leader.

"I think we should determine where you are so as not to… inconvenience your creator at an inopportune time. The mental aspects of this technique can be jarring as I'm certain you are aware." Seeing the nod of agreement the Hokage reached beneath his chair and flipped a switch. In an instant the two ninja were transplanted to a different room with a table and chairs. Resting on a cushion at the center of the table was a clear crystal orb.

"This, Itachi, is the Observation Orb." The boy could almost hear the capital O's in the name. "For, as long as the village has existed we, the leaders of the village, have had the power to see anything within certain limitations. We do have to specify what we wish to see and the control is difficult at best most days, but it is still an invaluable tool."

The Sandaime placed his hand on the Orb and concentrated on his desire to locate the original Itachi Uchiha. After a moment of feeding chakra into the sphere he lifted his hand and both gazed into its depths.

To be continued...

Short I know, but writers blocks are hard to chip through sometimes.


	9. Chapter 9

Raised by a Wild Horse Chapter 9

"Talking"

'Thinking'

In the Uchiha Section of town

"You know, Itachi, this is all very difficult to take in, isn't it?" Shisui asked as Itachi looked upon the histories depicted on a massive mural. After being escorted to a temple this was the last thing he'd expect to discover.

"Is it so hard to discover that the sharingan was created to cheat at pachinko?" The ability to predict the movements of those stupid metal balls was from generations of winners at pachinko inter-breeding.

"This… was not what I was expecting." That was the understatement of the millennia.

The murals along the walls showed depictions of the Uchiha histories which, at the earliest images, clearly depicted a progression of winning gamblers enjoying massive amounts of alcohol. Sure, after the great cataclysm, images showed how the Uchiha excelled at hunting and predicting animal behaviour.

'But gambling produced our powerful bloodline?' Itachi thought as he considered his clan as they were now.

Looking at the importance placed upon booze in the earlier images it might also explain how his sharingan had fully matured after sneaking some sake with his teammates after their first B ranked mission.

"I don't really like to dwell on how our bloodline started, but what it has gifted to us is truly exceptional." At the finish of his statement he seemed to fondly gaze upon the image of a deer being herded and killed by Uchiha hunters.

"Further down here we have the sealed scrolls of Madara. None have viewed the contents since the time of his betrayal to the village.. Many things have hinted at greater levels of our Doujutsu. Unfortunately, it seems that way lies madness." Shrugging in a 'what can you do' way, he finished the tour with a glass encased painting. It was the image of a beautiful, blond woman with long streamers of hair. She was hiding her lower face with a fan, and only her deep, blue, soul full eyes gazed at the observers.

The fan that was also found all around the clan's properties as it was the Uchiha symbol.

"Who is that?" Itachi asked in a strangely breathless manner.

"No one knows. Some believe her to be a distant ancestor that gave a new level of ability to our clan abilities. Others speculate that she was the true creator of ninjustu. Still others believe her to be the Queen of a Kingdom once spanning our entire solar system. No one truly knows."

Leaving the underground facility they moved to a large room where all of the older Uchihas were gathered. There were celebratory decorations covering the walls of the room. His parents were both waiting for him smiling. Even his father had the slightest up turn of his lips, it was surreal.

Later that evening after his clone dispelled Itachi had a great many things to mull over. His clone had, after both he and Hokage had viewed the party, fore went immediate dispelling. Instead they reviewed thoughts on the recent difficulties with their rival Great Five village. A recon team was sent to determine the validity of the Cloud Ninja abducting the Hyuuga heir. There report was conclusive. They were certain they'd seen the child from a distance, chained to the Raikage's carriage of all places.

The Hyuugas were crying for action. Several teams were being assembled for a surgical strike to retrieve the girl, but even now the situation was difficult, at best, even impossible at worst.

Thinking about how out of place the abduction of the Inuzuka tracker and her partner was Itachi came to the conclusion that some one had thrown them a bone. Apologizing to the Hokage for inappropriate, if accurate, turn of phrase they worked for about an hour considering all of the possibilities.

Every piece of information that had been reported was thoroughly analyzed, cataloged, and considered.

After waiting long enough for the Uchiha coming of age festival to finish, the clone dispelled with a slight pop and flash of smoke. The Hokage closed his eyes to block out the light from the low setting sun, and didn't even realize he'd fallen into a light doze. A few moments later a cough from the corner of the room brought him back to full awareness.

"Thank you Bear, you may leave to perform your other duties. I will be retiring for the rest of the evening." Stepping forward into the light a Bear masked ANBU bowed to the Hokage. After a moment of consideration, to the security of the room, the ANBU removed his mask.

"I have information for you old friend. My informants have given me the next likely destination for your targets." Teuchi the ramen chef handed the Hokage a file. Inside was a flier and two photographs.

"Noodle Country's food eating competition? I had two Akimichi attend last year and there was no report of young Naruto being in the area." The pictures were more enlightening.

"Genjutsu?" He asked himself as he examined a red head and a blond. Combined with the images of a dark haired man and a blond boy side by side the comparisons held some merit.

"Unknown. All that is known is that many women are extremely upset that the two girls won the contest last year and show minimal weight gain if any at all. From what I understand the Akimichi were hardly pleased either.

"I would think not. They have worked for quite some time to develop their physiology. While not yet a minor bloodline, it is a close call at this point. Another few generations could see it emerge as a bloodline." He then gestured to the photos of the winners.

"This could show that another family has already perfected a method to store calories in a much slimmer physique." Sarutobi examined the 'winners' of the contest. If his prodigious memory served him correctly, the winners of that competition ate nearly a half ton of food. It was quite literally nearly a half metric ton of food.

"Well, other than that I have only one other item to report sir." At this Teuchi appeared hesitant.

"Yes? Please proceed." Teuchi moved forward and placed a storage scroll on the desk.

"Some evidence was found late last night. It was pure chance that Sora Tama at the incinerator happened upon the scroll. He got his smock caught on the conveyer belt as it was approaching the flames. They shut the machinery down, and freed him. Some items were knocked from the belt. As the clean up commenced they found this." Sarutobi eyed the scroll curiously.

"What importance have you ascribed to this scroll?"

"Sir, upon reading the label identifying the stored… items we felt an investigation was warranted. Upon careful analysis of the chakra used in the seal the forensics have conclusive results."

"Stop stalling. Simply tell me what this is about." The Hokage laid his pipe on the desk, and gazed seriously at his old warrior friend.

"We have found the remains of Kana Inuzuka and her partner Irichiru. Both, according to the tests, were killed, roasted, and stripped of their flesh. The gnawing on the bones is consistent with the teeth of a nearly grown human. The Chakra signature, while faint, is indicative of an Uchiha."

The Hokage, Leader of the Leaf, The Professor, acknowledged as nearly unbeatable even in these twilight years, felt faint as that information processed.

Appearing much calmer than he was, the old man pushed a button on his desk intercom. Calmly he asked his secretary to schedule a meeting with Itachi Uchiha for the rest of the next day. Once the message was sent to the Uchiha compound the aging Hokage turned to scowl at the ANBU that had brought such horrendous news.

"Go home. I don't want to see you unless there is some sort of phenomenally good news. Tomorrow I have to take action in regards to the Hyuuga case, and at this point I'm ready to go myself to get out of the mess that is here in the village." Bowing, the aging spymaster left with his mask firmly replaced on his face.

* * *

Hinata awoke to the loud sounds of water falling nearby. Adjusting her position she found her bonds completely gone.

'Have we finally arrived someplace where they don't fear I might try to escape?' She asked her self as she felt around the area. Fortunately, it seemed the overwhelming pain of her missing eyes had dulled to only a light throb.  
Bandages still wound around her head. Feeling her way around the area she was in revealed the room was of a moderate size with a futon, which she had been laying on, and a small dresser filled with clothing. The clothing she was wearing felt like linen and was cut in a pajama type style.

Feeling the coarser fabric of the clothing in the dresser she determined they were roughly her size. The pants were easy to slip into, but it took some work to determine that the belt was intended to keep the tunic closed. The togs at the sleeve cuffs were also unusual.

Cinching the belt around her waist she moved to examine the window and door. The window was small. Possibly large enough to squeeze through, but there was no way to determine how far above the ground the room was located.

Sounds of fighting were drifting in through the window, nearly drowned out by the sounds of crashing water. Having never seen a water fall before it took some time to come to the conclusion that that was what she was hearing. The door was solid wood with a metal handle that turned freely. She hadn't been locked up?

Carefully moving down a short hallway and down a flight of stairs, Hinata took care to make as little sound as possible. Even as silent as she was it took little time for someone to notice her.

"Hey! Hime-chan is awake! Urk!" A loud voice came from some distance away.

'Urk?' Thought Hinata before something skidded to a halt. Soft hair gently brushed her shins as someone's head shook to clear itself.

"Hey, Mama, that's not fair! I was distracted," shouted a loud voice from the ground at her feet!

"Fair? Hah! Don't talk about fair to me brat." A woman's voice floated from a distance away. How far had the boy flown?

"Good morning, Princess, how are you feeling today." Hinata jumped at the voice beside her that had sounded so far away just a few seconds previously.

"I'm sorry? Wh-h-ho are you?" Hinata asked unsettled by the strange situation.

"I'm Saotome Naruto, and that's my Mom." The boy responded.

"Naruto, she has bandages covering her eyes. She can't see what you are doing." answered the woman with a sigh at the boy's antics..

"We rescued you from that stupid bandit king, battled our way through ninja, and brought you back to our castle." Naruto babbled what he considered the story.

"In other words we surprised the caravan, grabbed you, evaded a couple of losers, and brought you with us to…" She took a moment to continue, "I'm pretty sure this is River country."

"Pret-t-ty sure?" asked the confused girl.

"Yeah, got a couple places set up to stay when we manage to find them. I got an ability that acts up every now and then. It is useful as it lets me travel to other places real quick. Have some trouble with the control sometime." What she didn't say was the c-c-c- demon startled her, and having grabbed Naruto after he'd launched his attack. Well they got 'lost' real quick.

"Than-k-k you for rescuing me, but I don't know if-f-f it will help me-e-e. Without my eyes I-I am useless." The girl seemed to shrink into her self as her thoughts turned inward.

"Well, it's a good thing this knuckle head was about your size then. A bit of a shrimp, but hey, you seem to be alright. Let's take off those bandages and get a look." This shocked Hinata from her self recriminations.

"Wha-t-t are you talking ab-b-bout?" Hinata felt nothing but suddenly the bandages simply fell to the ground. The ground she could see!

Unfortunately, this course of events was a little too much for the child.

Ranma caught the girl before she touched the ground in a faint. With Naruto bouncing around asking if the girl was alright the elder Saotome wondered what kind of trouble this would bring her little family.

* * *

Konoha: Early Morning

"The council wishes to do the expedient thing." Hyuuga Hiashi as he and his brother spoke in the dark.

"Assassination? And you will abide by this? You would allow them to kill your own daughter out of convenience?" Hizashi asked in a calm voice covering a raging emotional core.

"The council believes this is the correct course of action. The main branch members seem to be in consensus as there is a 'spare' heir." Hiashi replied back emotionlessly.

"I can't believe I'm hearing you say this. Hiroko would be rolling over in her grave to hear you speak so coldly about your own daughter. Hiroko fought for the branch house against the high and mighty main branch. How many skilled fighters are members of the vaunted Main Branch? Only you have any of the higher skills, Hiashi. Each and every branch member would be tracking down Hinata-hime right now if the council didn't fear losing their power over them. I..." At this point Hizashi was stopped mid rant by his brother placing his hand in a hand seal.

Awaiting the pain of the caged-bird seal, that never came. Hizashi watched as his brother performed a second seal. With the second seal completed Hiashi bit into his thumb and swiped the blood across his brother's uncovered brow. Slowly the cage-bird seal dissipated until only unblemished flesh remained.

"Gather all of the branch members and follow the same method. This is in exchange for rescuing my daughter, Hizashi," Hiashi moved to leave the room, "Please, bring her back to me."

Nodding to his brother, Hizashi left the room to begin unsealing the rest of the branch family. The branch family was nearly three times the size of the Main . Once they were free from the seal… they would not be subjugated again. Later that next day a small army of Hyuuga, some seventy-five well trained ninja and assorted tracking teams left the village with the Hokage's blessings.

Cloud wanted the Hyuuga eyes? Well the village hidden in the clouds would be haunted by those eyes for a great many years once the battles were done.

To be continued

Thought? Questions that I may or may not be obliged to answer with regards to the story? Happy Valentines Day!


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